News Briefs

Filtering Recommendations
After seven months of studies and hearings, the Commission on Online Child Protection, has released 12 recommendations on protecting children from harmful materials on the World Wide Web. To the relief of many, the commission recommended filtering only if it's used with other measures,  such as adult supervision. Donald N. Telage, chairman of the commission, noted that although filtering was ranked high in effectiveness, the commission worried about "whether or not you suffer a significant degradation in what you have access to" when you filter. Formed by Congress in 1998, the commission studied filtering and blocking software, labeling and rating systems, acceptable-use policies, and family contracts, among other methods and technologies. Although the committee did not make sweeping recommendations, it did push education about the Web as the primary method of protecting children.

For Safety's Sake?
Are you disturbed that Web sites can track your Internet usage with cookies? Well, how would you feel if all of that information were a matter of public record? According to Rockingham County (NH) Superior Court, it is--in schools, at least. Judge Gillian Abramson ruled in favor of an Exeter father whose four children once attended the district's schools. Jonathan M. Knight has since placed his children in private schools, but he claimed he had a right to look at the district's Internet usage logs, saying that its policy of spot-checking students' Internet usage wasn't enough to keep them from accessing inappropriate Web sites. When the school district said that checking the records would violate students' privacy rights, Knight sued. The school district isn't planning to appeal.

Success Stories
A school librarian is one of 146 recipients of the prestigious Milken Foundation Award for 2000. Barbara Ashby, a librarian at the George West Elementary School in Providence, RI, was honored for her exceptional work both in the library and the classroom. The award carries a $25,000 prize. Ashby was named Providence Teacher of the Year in 1999 and went on to win Rhode Island's Teacher of the Year award. Ashby lobbied heavily to gain Internet access for her library, and is co-creator of a program called "Grow Your Own School Librarian," a training program for school media specialists.

Award-winning children's book author Susan Cooper (left) will present this year's May Hill Arbuthnot Lecture. The lecture will take place on May 5, 2001, in Portland, OR, and will be hosted by the Multnomah County Library. Cooper is best known for her series of Arthurian novels, The Dark Is Rising, and her book The Grey King, part of the series, won the Newbery Award in 1976.

 

A Three-Way Race for ALA Prez
While Americans were hotly contesting whether Bush or Gore would walk away with the top job, American Library Association (ALA) members began to ponder the qualifications of the three candidates for its presidency: Mitch Freedman, Ken Haycock, and William W. Sannwald. Freedman, who will run by petition, is director of the Westchester (NY) Library System. Haycock is a past president of the American Association of School Librarians, a division of ALA, and director of the School of Library, Archival and Information Studies at the University of British Columbia in Vancouver. And Sann-
wald, a veteran of public libraries, is assistant to San Diego's city manager for library design and development. ALA members will vote for the 2002-2003 ALA president on the spring 2001 ballot, which will be available in March. For more information about the three candidates, go to ALA's Web site (www.ala.org).